This invention relates to systems for blocking viewing or recording of television programs which exceed a ratings, spending, or viewing time limit, or other viewing limit set by a supervisor.
Video signal processing systems such as television tuners contained in television sets, video cassette recorders, or cable boxes which are suitable for coupling to a display device such as a picture tube and which contain circuitry and software designed to prevent viewing of programs containing ratings information below a level set by a supervisor or exceeding spending limits in pay-per-view systems, are very well known. The programmed processor allows a supervisor with a password, usually a parent, to set a limit over or outside of which supervised persons, such as young children, cannot view broadcasts.
A device or system that provides such control permits a supervisor to prevent certain programs and/or scenes from being viewed and heard based on the content of the program/scenes, the subscription cost, or total viewing time for a period such as a day. For example, a parent might specify that programs and/or scenes including violent subject matter should be excluded. A supervisor can also specify a rating limit, such as PG-13, and programs and scenes exceeding that limit (e.g., R and X rated programs) could not be viewed or heard. The supervisor can also limit the use of pay-per-view or can set a pay-per-view spending limit The supervisor can also enter a daily maximum view time. The ratings, spending and view time can be chosen in a profile, which may also include the name of the user, or an identification such as “children.” In some situations, one or more profiles can be defined, for example a second profile for “parents,” and a third for “babysitter.” Each profile may have a different ratings limit, pay-per-view spending limit, and view time limit, and can only be accessed by the person specified in the profile, i.e., the children can not apply the parent profile since it is protected by a password.
By decoding program content information included in an auxiliary information component of a program signal (e.g., Extended Data Services (XDS) data in an NTSC television signal in the United States or PSIP data in an ATSC television signal), a television receiver containing a “stripper” (or decoder) can “slice” or extract information (e.g., from the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of an NTSC television signal in the United States) to determine the content and rating of television programs and scenes and can compare the content and rating to the limits set by the supervisor. Other data such as spending data or time limits may be received in other ways, for example using the system clock to calculate elapsed active view time.
When the ratings information or other information for a program exceeds a limit set by the supervisor, the processor is designed to blank the screen and mute the audio portion of the broadcast. For television receivers which also have multi-image display capability, the receiver would provide supervisor control for both main and auxiliary pictures when both are displayed. In addition, the receiver may display a message indicating the reason for the interrupted reception and the expected duration of the interruption (e.g., SCENE EXCEEDS CONTENT LIMIT).
In situations where the supervisor wishes to temporarily change the ratings limit, time limit, or spending limit, or to permit viewing of a particular television broadcast, the supervisor must reset the ratings limit, and then remember to restore the original limit. Due to the inconvenience of having to reset the original limit, we have conceived of a system for temporarily overriding the normal limits, as disclosed in a copending patent application entitled RATINGS CONTROL SYSTEM WITH TEMPORARY OVERRIDE CAPABILITY, Ser. No. 09/475,448 filed on even date herewith, hereafter referred to as “Override Invention.” Our aforementioned Override Invention provides a video signal processing system such as a television receiver, cable box, or VCR tuner for producing an output signal suitable for coupling to a display device to produce a displayed image, which blocks viewing of programs which are received with embedded ratings information, spending information, and/or view time which is outside a range selected by a supervisor, and permits the supervisor to enter a temporarily revised range or permit specific programs to be viewed; the system then automatically restores the normal limits at the end of the temporary override.
While the Override Invention provides several ways for a supervisor to override the normal viewing limitations, for example by a modified ratings limit for a defined temporary period; an override for a single broadcast program; an override for a specific time period on a regular basis; an override to allow spending to exceed the normal limit for a particular day; and an override to allow the supervised person to view television for a different time limit, it is herein recognized that choosing more than one override option may present conflicts for the system. The present invention addresses that problem.